Ryan Doran will never forget the day he realized his future in baseball would be up on the mound as a pitcher.

It was a painful day for the Orange native – an actual physically excruciating experience.

“I was taking batting practice the day before this game against Cypress (College),” recalled Doran, then a member of the Orange Coast College baseball team. “On the last pitch, Coach (John) Altobelli throws a high fastball and hits me right in the jaw. It ends up breaking my jaw and I was out for about three weeks. So the only thing I really could do was pitch.”

Up to that point, Doran had primarily served as a middle infielder during his baseball career. While at Servite High, Doran started at both shortstop and second base for the Friars, occasionally making a relief appearance on the mound in late-game situations.

Despite being an all-Trinity League honorable mention as a senior year in 2009, there weren’t many options for the versatile Doran.

“There was no serious interest from any D. I schools,” he said. “I still wanted to play baseball. It had always been my first love, and I wanted to play Division I baseball to have an opportunity to go to Omaha and play in regional playoffs.”

After a meeting with Orange Coast College Head Coach John Altobelli, Doran knew two years at OCC would give him the best opportunity to play Div. I ball.

What he didn’t expect was the way his coach thought he could get him there.

“At the preseason meetings I sat down with coach Altobelli and the pitching coach and they said, ‘We want you starting on opening day,'” Doran recalled. “I instantly got chills down my spine. I never saw myself as a top of the rotation kind of guy. I obviously don’t have overwhelming velocity. But they said, ‘We see you as having the pitching ability to do that.'”

On opening day in 2010, Doran took the mound as the No. 1 starter for the Pirates in their game against Cuesta College.

“I just remember going in, and there was some big left-hander at the plate for Cuesta,” he recalled. “I just stuck to my guns, threw a couple of different pitches and ended up striking him out. That was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. It’s one of the defining moments where I said, ‘Yeah. I know I can do this.'”

The 6-foot-1 right-hander quickly established himself as the ace of the OCC staff over the next two seasons. He earned second team all-Orange Empire Conference his freshman season, and as a sophomore, he guided the Pirates to the Southern California Super Regionals – just one round short of the four-team state tournament.

Even after a successful career at OCC, Doran still didn’t capture the attention of many Div. I schools. His fastball – which tops off at 89 mph – didn’t impress the scouts or radar guns, and his pinpoint command wasn’t enough to get many coaches on the phone.

“San Diego State was really the only school that showed serious interest,” Doran said. “I had an offer from UC Irvine to come and walk-on, but San Diego State was the only (school) where I felt I had an opportunity to come in and do something.”

Playing for Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn down in San Diego proved to be a no-brainer for the righty. As a junior in 2012, Doran started out in the bullpen before earning a place in the starting rotation. Despite posting a 3-6 record, he led the team with 88 innings pitched on the year – 20 more than anyone else on the staff.

As a senior this season, Doran has dramatically improved. He currently holds a 6-2 record with a 2.54 earned run average. On Sunday, Doran pitched 81/3 innings of shutout ball, leading the Aztecs to an 11-0 win over Air Force.

More importantly, the Aztecs (19-17) are just a game behind New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference standings.

“We want to win the conference for sure,” he said. “We win the conference, then we make it to a regional. And we will see where things go from there. Anything can happen in the playoffs, especially if a team gets hot. And I take a lot of responsibility on myself to help us get there.”

Kenny Connolly started working for the Register in 2012 after graduating from Syracuse University with a broadcast journalism degree. As a member of the OC Varsity team, he covers football, tennis, basketball and softball.

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